12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time

Some names are obvious. Some are not. In this Forbes list, we take a look at entrepreneurs who have made a significant impact on the people and the economy.

Rank 1 | Steve Jobs

This does not come as a surprise. Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple, the maker of the Mac, iPhone and iPad, among other revolutionary products.

Rank 2 | Bill Gates

Gates is the co-founder and chairman of Microsoft and is consistently ranked among the world's richest people. He is also the co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rank 3 | Fred Smith

Smith is the founder and chief executive of FedEx, a global courier delivery service headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Rank 4 | Jeff Bezos

Bezos is the founder and CEO of online company Amazon.com, the largest retailer on the Internet. He was also the Time Person of the Year in 1999.

Rank 5 | Larry Page and Sergey Brin

They are the founders of search engine giant Google, a company they set up while attending Stanford University. Page is now the chief executive of the company, while Brin handles special projects.

Rank 6 | Howard Schultz

Schultz is the chairman and chief executive of Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, which has over 20,000 stores in 61 countries.

Rank 7 | Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg is the co-founder, chairman and chief executive of social networking site Facebook. The company began trading on the Nasdaq in May this year.

Rank 8 | John Mackey

Mackey is the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, a food supermarket chain based in Texas, and also one of the most influential advocates in the movement for organic food.

Rank 9 | Herb Kelleher

Kelleher is the co-founder and former chief executive of Southwest Airlines, the largest low-cost carrier in the United States.

Rank 10 | N.R. Narayana Murthy

Murthy is one of the seven co-founders of Infosys, and served as the CEO of the company from 1981 to 2002, and then as chairman till 2011. He is now chairman-emeritus.

Rank 11 | Sam Walton

Walton was the founder of Walmart, one of the world's largest department stores. The company is the world's third largest firm by revenue, behind Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

Rank 12 | Muhammad Yunus

Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. The concepts of microfinance and microcredit, which are now shaping lives in over 100 countries, are his brainchild.